Safety device



June a, 1924. 1396,4815

' -H. MILLER SAFETY DEVICE Filed March 9, 1920 Patented June 3, 1924.

entree stars HERMAN MILLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH. TO NORMAN MILLER, ONE-FOURTH TO NATHAN MILLER, AND ONE-FOURTH TO ISIDORE L.

MILLER, ALL OFNEW YORK, N.- Y.

SAFETY DEVICE.

Application filed March 9, 1920. Serial No. 364,481.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN MILLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for protecting the operators of sewing machines,

stamping presses and other machines having reciprocating parts which are liable to crush or pierce the hand of the operator when brought into the path of'the reciprocating member. The present device is especially advantageous for guarding the needle of a sewing machine to prevent the operators hands or fingers from getting into the path of the needle. lnU.S.Patent No.1,234,556 there is shown a guard intended for the same general purposes but the present device is an improvement over the device shown in said patent. One object of the present de vice is to so construct and arrange the guard that some part of the reciprocating member or needle will'be visible to the operator even while the machine is operating in order that the operator may sight the'work or guide it with a clear understanding as to the exact point at which the needle or other tool is operating upon the fabric or other material which is being fed to the machine. Another object of my invention is to provide a guard for a sewing machine needle to protect the operator, which will guard the point of the needle but which will. leave the eye of the needle accessible for threading at all times and without removing any parts and without using any special threading implement; so that'the needle may be threaded just as quickly as if the guard were not used.

Another object of my invention is to'provide a device which will not only guard the needle when. the machineis in operation but which will also make it impossible to start the machine when the presser footis raised in order that the needle may not be operated except when the guard is in operative posi tion.' l

v In the drawing forming part of this apguard as applied to a sewing ma portion of the guard,

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the guard as applied to a stamping press, and

Figure 7 is a side elevation thereof.

In the drawings I have shown only such parts of the machines as are necessary to an understanding of my invention. Referring first to the construction shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, 1 represents the needle shaft of a sewing machine, 2 the needle plate and 3 the presser foot. These parts are all of conventional form as are all other parts of the machine which are not shown.

The lower end of the needle shaft 1 is shown cut away and it has a groove 4 in which the head 5 of the needle 6 is clamped. The'needle, being fixed to'the shaft 1, reciprocates vertically the same extent as the shaft and in its downward stroke the point 7 passes through the needle plate 2 whereas 'on the upward stroke the point'rises above this needle plate to permit the fabric to be fed. It is while theneedle is in its upper position or out of the needle plate that the operator is liable to project his orher hand or fingers into the path of the needle and the present guard is intended to prevent this happening.

There is a block 8 fitting over the lower end of the needle shaft 1 and it is secured thereto by means of a screw 9 which also serves to draw the block 8 against the needle and to clamp the latter against the needle shaft. The block 8 and the remainder of the guard is prevented from fallingofi the shaft 1 when the screw 9 is released, by means of a plate 10 which is secured to the needle shaft 1 by the screw 11 and which has an enlarged lower end '12 on which the block 8 may hang. The block 8 being fiXedto the needle shaft, reciprocates with it.

Below the block 8 there 1s a guard mem ber 13, here shown as of frustrorconica l shape, which is fixed on the lower ends of thecarrying rods 14;. In the preferred constriic= tion, these rods 142 are arranged ateaclrside of and to the rear of the sewing needle in order that they will not obstruct the operators view of the needle. The upper ends of the rods 14 slide freely in apertures 15 in the block 8, so that the guard member 13 will fall by gravity.

T he guard member 13 has a central bore 16 for the passage of the needle and the needle thread. The point 7 of the needle never rises above the guard member 13 so that the point is always protected in such a way that the operator can not get his or her fingers under the needle while the machine is operating. The eye 17 of the needle, however, is above the top edge of the guard member 13 when the needle shaft is at the top of the stroke, the purpose of which will appear hereinafter.

I prefer to use supplemental and telescoping guard members depending from the member 13 and in the drawings I have shown a tubular member 18 having an external flange 19 slidable in the member 13 and adapted to rest upon the inner flange 20 thereof. A. similar member 21 of smaller diameter is adapted to slide inside the menr 3 her 18 and to be supportedby the engagement of its flange 22 with the inner flange 23 of the member 18. The members-21 and 18 telescope in relation to each other and to the member 13, in order that the top of the guarding member 13 will not have to be raised to a higher position than that shown.

' /Vhile I have shown these guard members telescoping I desire to include in my protection a structure wherein the members 21, 18 are integral with the member 13, or are nontelescoping. The bottom of the member 21 is adapted to rest upon the presser foot 3 in the preferred construction.

'In Figure 2 I have shown how the guard will serve to prevent injury if the operator raised.

attempts to start the machine when the presser foot is up and when the guard is therefore inoperative as a protecting device for the needle. The presser foot 3 is adapted to be raised and lowered by the ordinary lever 24: which operates through the cam 25 to move the arm 26 on the presser footshaft 27. 1 When the presser foot is raised, the cam 25 holds up the arm 26 and the presser foot, and at such times the needle guard 13 is also If the machine were operated at such times the needle would be unguarded,

but in the present case when the cam 25.

holds up the presser foot 3, the latter prevents the guard member 13 and the block 8 from going down and as the latter is connected upon the needle shaft the latter can not go down and the machine therefore will not operate until the presser foot is lowered. I The device thus far operates as follows: While the machine is operating, the lower guard member 21 rests on the resser foot 3 continuously. As the needle shaft 1 goes down, the member 18 goes down and telescopes over the member 21 and the member 13 also telescopes over both the members 18 and 21 until the needle shaft reaches the bottom of its stroke. During this movement of'the needle shaft the block 8 slides down freely with the rods 14. The point 7 of the needle travels through the bores 16, 28, 29 of the guard members 13, 18, 21 and then through the needle plate 2 and at such times the operators hands or fingers can not come into the path of the needle and be in.- jured because the point of the needle is enclosed during the entire downward stroke. If the hands are moved toward the point of the needle they will strike one or the other of the guard members but not the needle. Upon the return or upward stroke of the needle shaft 1 the block 8 rises along the bars 1 1 and then engages the link 30 which connects these rods 14 at the top and of the needle but the eye 17 is above this member so that the needle may be threaded without removing any of the parts and without having to use special implements. The thread is passed through a guide opening 31 in the block 8, thence through the eye of the needle which is exposed above the member 13 when the needle shaft is up. Thus, the needle may be threaded as rapidly as if the present device were not present.

As the needle is exposed to view between the block 8 and the member 13 for 'substantially its full length while the needle shaft is up and for a portion of its length at all times, the operator can observe the position of the needle while feeding the I work in the machine and stitch with the same accuracy as where a guard is not used. Placing the rods 14- to the rear of the needle and leaving an open space between the members 8 and 13 provides a clear view of the needle while the machine is in operation and at the same time the point of the needle is guarded throughout its stroke.

In Figures'6 and 7 I have shown my invention applied to protect the hands of a shown in the first construction and they surround and guard the lower end of the die member 34, resting on the stripper plate 33, to prevent the operators hands from getting between the die 34 and the stripper plate or the lower die. IVhen the head 35 is at the top of its stroke the guard 13 surrounds the bottom edge of the die 84 but leaves a portion of this die exposed to view so that the operator will be able to see the relation of the die to the stock being fed. The device operates the same as in the first form of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. I11 a sewing machine the combination with a needle shaft, a sewing needle and a presser foot, of a movable guard surrounding the point of the needle and resting on said presser foot and comprising relatively telescoping sections, carried by said needle shaft, said guard being constructed to leave the needle exposed for threading when the needle is in its raised position.

2. In a sewing machine the combination with a needle shaft, a sewing needle, attaching means on said needle shaft, a movable guard comprising telescoping sections surrounding the needle and slidable means connecting said guard and said attaching means adapted to leave substantially the greater portion of said needle exposed to View when the needle shaft is raised.

3. In a sewing machine the combination with a needle shaft, a sewing needle, and a presser foot, attaching means on said needle shaft, a movable guard surrounding the point of the needle and comprising relatively telescoping sections resting on said presser foot, said guard being adapted to leave the eye of the needle exposed for threading when the needle is up, and means sliding in said attaching means and adapted to be raised thereby, said guard being mounted on the lower ends of said sliding means.

a. In a sewing machine the combination with a needle shaft, a sewing needle carried thereby, a guard surrounding said needle and comprising telescoping sections having means for limiting the relative movement of the sections in relation to one another, and means for supporting the exterior telescoping member and for limiting its movement whereby the point of the needle will always be enclosed by said guard, said guard being constructed to leave the greater portion of the needle exposed to view when in its raised position.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York, this 2nd day of March, 1920.

HERMAN MILLER. 

